Air Force Kicks Baby Jesus Off Base

Share

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

The Baby Jesus has been kicked off Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, according to an organization who relishes any opportunity to eradicate Christianity from the U.S. military.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation praised officials at Shaw Air Force Base for removing a Nativity scene located near Memorial Lake on Friday. The traditional Nativity included plastic statues of Mary, Joseph, the Baby Jesus and an assortment of animals.

Apparently, an undisclosed number of Airmen were so emotionally troubled by the sight of a manger scene that they immediately notified the MRFF.

I can only imagine the psychological damage they must have suffered as a result of glancing at the plastic statues. I hope no one needed hospitalization, God forbid.

The MRFF's Paul Loebe wrote in a statement that since the display was not erected near a chapel, it was illegal.

"It was very sectarian in nature and a direct violation of the U.S. Constitution as well as a blatant violation of Air Force Instruction 1-1, Section 2.11," he said.

So the Newborn King is a violation of Air Force regulations? Who knew?

Loebe swiftly alerted MRFF President Mikey Weinstein who then called his BFF's at the Pentagon. That led to an immediate investigation and more than two hours later, the Nativity had been removed.

"To the Air Force's credit, it agreed with MRFF's arguments to remove the Nativity scene swiftly and apparently found this scene to be as much a violation of all the pertinent regulations and the United States Constitution as MRFF did," he stated.

He praised the Air Force for "acting so swiftly to reverse this egregious violation."

So why did the Air Force unceremoniously boot the Son of God and why are they so terrified of Mikey Weinstein?

The public affairs office at Shaw AFB did not return eight telephone calls and an email seeking comment. They must have been preoccupied hauling away the donkey and the sheep.

Public affairs officers did take down three media queries from me – including a query as to why the other queries had gone unanswered.

Hiram Sasser, the director of litigation for Liberty Institute, told me the military's actions were unconstitutional.

"This was private speech," he said. "The military can say no displays on a base but it cannot allow a display and then ban it simply because of its religious viewpoint."

Sasser said the Supreme Court has ruled in the past that viewpoint discrimination even in a non-public forum such as a military base in unconstitutional.

"It appears that Mikey Weinstein has a special hotline to call his friends in leadership at the Pentagon to alert them to engage in unnecessary and, in this case, unlawful censorship of private religious speech," he said.

Fox News commentator Sarah Palin, the author of the new book, "Good Tidings and Great Joy," said what happened at Shaw Air Force base is not surprising.

"We see stories like this every day and yet leftwing pundits still claim that the so-called 'War on Christmas' is a figment of the imagination," Palin told me. "The War on Christmas is just the top of the spear in a larger battle to marginalize expressions of faith and make true religious freedom a thing of the past."

Palin's book is a call to arms for Americans to "stand strong on America's faith-filled foundation."

Todd Starnes is the host of Fox News & Commentary – heard daily on 250+ radio stations. He's also the author of Dispatches From Bitter America. To check out all of his work you can visit his website or follow him on Twitter @toddstarnes. In his spare time, Todd is active in his church, plays golf, follows SEC football, and eats barbecue. He lives in New York City.